A fire survivor today met the mystery man who rescued her from her blazing home and said: "I owe you my life".

A fire survivor today met the mystery man who rescued her from her blazing home and said: "I owe you my life".

Rescuer Carl Williams came forward after reading about Marie Clark's appeal to trace him in the Gazette earlier this week.

A hall fire had trapped the 58-year-old arthritis sufferer in a bedroom in her first floor flat on Edenhall Grove, Redcar, last week.

The Neighbourhood Watch leader, who has fractured ribs after a recent accident, was choking in the smoke and had given up hope of escaping by herself.

Husband Barrie Clark, 70, had become trapped outside the building as the flames took hold.

But Mrs Clark was saved by an unknown man, who dashed through a wall of flames to take her out of the building before leaving the scene.

Now Mr Williams, 36, who lives close to the couple on Langwaithe Road, has been thanked by Mrs Clark.

"He is my lovely little rescuer," she said.

"He is my hero and I owe him my life. He is a very brave man and I think he will be a lifelong friend.

"It is fantastic to have met him."

Mr Williams told how he was walking to his car, parked next to the flats, when he noticed the fire.

He said: "I just saw the smoke coming out of the flat and a lady on the window, screaming.

"I don't think I really thought at all, you don't have time to think - I just reacted on it."

Despite still recovering from a serious shoulder and neck injury, Mr Williams ran into the building through another flat.

He said: "I got upstairs and I just ran through the flames, burst the door and grabbed hold of her.

"She was very scared - she was absolutely distressed.

"I just put myself between the fire and her and helped her out.

"There were a lot of flames and it was just a matter of minutes or seconds before it really got out of control.

"When the fire brigade arrived I told them what happened, and once everything was under control I went."

The reluctant hero said anybody would have done what he did.

"At the end of the day, if somebody is in distress you just do it," he said.

Despite living so close by, he had never talked to Mrs Clark before and was hesitant about approaching the couple after the incident.

"To be honest I'm not really the sort of person to go looking for the limelight," he said.

But now they will be seeing a lot of each other. Mr Williams, a former plasterer, has offered to give the couple a hand with repairs at the flat, while the Clarks plan to take him and his family for a thank-you meal.